Is Pokemon starting to cater to younger and younger kids?

I feel like Pokemon has started to drift away from battling and put more energy into things like Pokemon Aime, contests, and too much "Animal Crossing and NintenDogs" features. Pocket Monsters are starting to become Pocket Neopets.

Maybe it's too late, or maybe next gen will do what Black and White and Diamond and Platinum did right....more exploration, story, and new battle features.

I'm sad to hear the new Ruby and Sapphire remake will still feature some of this kid stuff. Maybe economically it makes sense if older kids are falling away from Pokemon. Still it's crazy to think how much it costs to own a handheld and cost of games these days. I understand new technology means higher costs, but I'd rather forego new technology and have what made games great.

I'm TCG has stayed good and also anime is still ok. However, I'd be fine if they started a new and moved on from Ash.

Still, I'm glad fans have started to take things in their own hands. I like some of the fan-made games out there.

It has definitely not drifted away from battling. In fact, the biggest thing XY had to offer were the updated metagame, improved wifi communications and some type of accessibility to see and manipulate your Pokemon's stats. Pokemon has always been focused to children, but they're finally aware that there's a large loyal adult population who still play. XY catered to bringing back the older fans, as shown by the insane amount of Kanto pokemon available and how many of them were given mega evolutions. Hell, they even used teens for the TV commercials, which is rarely done for Pokemon games.

While I do agree that the story still has not topped Black and White, I don't understand the "more exploration" part. They were also the most linear Pokemon games yet. Although Diamond and Pearl were less linear than both BW and XY, Ruby and Sapphire, and potentially ORAS, continue to claim the throne for exploration. New battle features were introduced in every generation, even in XY.

Pokemon Amie and contests are cute, but they're still very bareboned, especially compared to the changes they made in battles and gameplay.

There's really not much to expect from games that are and were always focused to children. While it's not noticeable at first glance and is still not much of an improvement, pokemon games are catering to adults now than ever before.

@ANIMEguy10034: Yes, Pokemon XY did make some improvements for battle and wi-fi connection. However, I can not support the kiddish features they added. So I'm sorry Nintendo, you are not getting my money until you get it right.

And that comment about having more Pokemon from the original games....uh are you kidding me? All the games have done that. I'm not concerned that they include alot of original Pokemon in the new games. I'm concerned we keep the original formula and it make better. Better battling, better wifi, better graphics, more story, and more post game content.

I'm fine with Pokemon being linear too. It's apart of it being a JRPG.

I'm VERY INSULTED YOU WOULD SAY THIS XY GEN IS MORE LIKE THE ORIGINALS! Pokemon Black and White was. Even the anime series brought back the old retro song for it's opening. The Black and White trading card pack included alot of the original Pokemon.

I'm awfully confused right now so I'll just add my comments in bold:

Its not catering to younger Kids... Its Catering to Dumber Adults....

Not sure exactly. I fell off of Pokemon when it surpassed 150 only to come back every now and then.

I'm more of a Monster Rancher person anyway.

I'm just saying I'm sick of this 4 and 5 yr old features they've added. Pokemon was for the youngest 8 and 10.

They lost young adult players. Thats why you don't see Wii games or more battle style games.

Just because you dislike those features does not mean every adult player does as well.

Even if the franchise "lost" young adult players, there's no correlation or causation between it and not seeing another console stadium-esque Pokemon game. The fact that they're developing Pokken Tournament for arcades (and most likely Wii U) proves that they're aware of an existing older audience who will be interested in a more violent Pokemon spin-off game.

@ANIMEguy10034: and we will see if they ditch Pokemon Aime in the next gen games. DS games I felt stuck to the original format. So far Im not impressed with the 3ds games have brought.

I admit, Pokemon is no longer in the hands of the ones who got into Pokemon before the games came out and it's in the hands of newer generations. So it's out of my hands what kids these days like.

I'm just saying I wish it would go back to more of the classic games. Or when they remake games, like ORAS, to leave out some of these new features. Or better yet, why not re-release the classics on other platforms?

In the mean time, I'll enjoy DS Pokemon and Pokemon fan-made games on my laptop.

Oh, this is off-topic, I watched some of the new episodes and I'm frusterated Ash went to a Summer camp. I think he is a bit old for Summer camp now. The ASH I knew would rather spend time catching Pokemon and training them. Ash seems a bit older than most of the campers too. Please I hope they end the series with ASH before they go too far.

Oh yeah, Pokemon? That was created for 30-40 year olds

Man I hate how they've recently started changing the game towards children, the nerve!

Been playing Pokemon the last 14 yrs or so, still a fan.

To be fair, there are a lot more kids games out there today, and there's a lot more competition. Things have to move forward with the times. Pokémon is a tried and tested formula; keeping this formula the same led to complaints that the franchise was 'tired out' - and in many respects, it probably is. This is why the producers want to branch out and explore new ideas - and given the capabilities of the 3DS in comparison with the Gameboy, it's hardly surprising that the games are going to include a lot more features. However, I thought the main focus - battling, training, trading - of XY was kept in the game very well. Maybe you're expecting too much from the new games? The main reason I bought X was just for a bit of fun to de-stress. I expected a different experience from the old games, and that's what I got, and I was also wary of it being potentially childish (I'm 19 now) but I still enjoyed it, just as much as I still enjoy playing the older versions. :)

I was 6 years old when I started playing pokemon in 1998. The games have always been marketed towards a young audience.

Could be wrong since I haven't played x/y but the stuff you seem to be complaining about always seemed more optional if you happen to enjoy it.. If that is still the case you're complaint seems nonsensical. Also reading about aime that sounds like something I wanted back when I played the originals. Possibly due to the tamagotchi craze happening around the same time period.